Jan van Scorel
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter credited with the introduction of High Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
art to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Biography
He was born in SchoorlSchoorl
Schoorl is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about 8 km northwest of Alkmaar. Until 2001, Schoorl was also a municipality of its own....
, north of Alkmaar
Alkmaar
Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...
and close to Egmond Abbey. It is not known whether he began his studies under the Master of Alkmaar
Master of Alkmaar
The Master of Alkmaar was a Dutch painter active around Alkmaar at the beginning of the sixteenth century. His name is derived from a series of panel paintings from the church of Saint Lawrence in that city, dated to 1504 and showing the Seven Works of Mercy; they are currently in the Rijksmuseum...
, Pieter Gerritsz in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, Jacob Cornelisz in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, or with Jan Gossaert in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
but it is certain that the last two were the master painters he would meet later in his life and who would have the greatest effect on his technique. According to the RKD, he is registered in Haarlem in 1517 where he perhaps collaborated with his contemporary Maarten van Heemskerck, who like him, had been born close to Alkmaar (they certainly collaborated in Haarlem in 1528).
In 1524 Jan Gossaert is registered at Duurstede Castle
Duurstede Castle
Castle Duurstede is a medieval castle in Wijk bij Duurstede in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands.-Origin and development:The castle originated in the 13th century. Around 1270, Zweder I van Zuylen van Abcoude built a freestanding keep on a raised and moated site near the lost city Dorestad...
, near Utrecht, where he had Jan van Scorel as pupil. Van Scorel began traveling through Europe in his early twenties after visiting Utrecht. In 1518-22 he is registered in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, and along the way, heading to Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
and then on via Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
over the alps. In the village of Obervellach
Obervellach
Obervellach is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia in Austria. It is situated in the valley of the Möll river, on the southern slope of the Hohe Tauern mountain range...
, in 1520, he completed his first representative work, the "Sippenaltar" in St. Martin's church. Giorgione
Giorgione
Giorgione was a Venetian painter of the High Renaissance in Venice, whose career was cut off by his death at a little over thirty. Giorgione is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only about six surviving paintings are acknowledged for certain to be his work...
served as a considerable influence on van Scorel during his tenure in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. Upon leaving Venice, from 1522–24, van Scorel passed through Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. His experiences in Jerusalem are depicted in many of his later works. Perhaps because of his experiences, Heemskerck later traveled to Rome himself, benefitting from Van Scorel's experiences.
In 1521, van Scorel returned to Rome where he met the Dutch pope Pope Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI , born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, served as Pope from 9 January 1522 until his death some 18 months later...
, who he may have met earlier in Utrecht, and who appointed him painter to the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. He himself sat for a portrait. Van Scorel enjoyed the influence of Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
and Raphael, and succeeded Raphael as Keeper of the Belvedere
Cortile del Belvedere
The Cortile del Belvedere, the Belvedere courtyard, designed by Donato Bramante from 1506 onwards, was a major architectural work of the High Renaissance at the Vatican Palace in Rome; its concept and details reverberating in courtyard design, formalized piazzas and garden plans throughout Western...
.
Upon his return to the Netherlands in 1524, he settled in Utrecht where he began a successful career as a painter and a teacher. Van Scorel was a very educated man and skilled as an engineer and an architect, as well as an artist. He was also multi-lingual, no doubt as a result of his travels. He made the plans for building a polder
Polder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
in his native North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
, called the Zijpe- en Hazepolder, that was later financed by his friend from Antwerp, the merchant Servaes de Haese. Perhaps because of the work on this polder, he is registered in Haarlem in 1528, where he collaborated with Heemskerck and assisted with the school there that Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert
Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert
Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert was a Dutch writer, philosopher, translator, politician and theologian. Coornhert is often considered the Father of Dutch Renaissance scholarship.-Biography:...
would later run.
Considered to be the leading Netherlandish Romanist
Romanism (painting)
Romanism was the style of painting of a group of artists in the late 15th and early 16th century from the Netherlands who began to visit Italy and started to incorporate Renaissance influences in their work. The greatest artist in the style was Jan Mabuse...
, van Scorel moved to Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
for painting contracts before returning to Utrecht for the same reason, where he died in 1562, leaving behind a wealth of portraits and altarpieces. Though many of his works fell victim to the Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
in 1566, some still remain and can be seen primarily at museums in the Netherlands.
Influences
Contemporary painters that Van Scorel may have met, taught, and/or collaborated with, are Cornelis Willemsz (1481–1552), Aertgen van LeydenAertgen van Leyden
Aertgen Claesz. van Leyden , also known as Allaert or Aert van Leyden, was a 16th-Century Dutch painter, draughtsman and designer of stained glass...
, Master of Alkmaar
Master of Alkmaar
The Master of Alkmaar was a Dutch painter active around Alkmaar at the beginning of the sixteenth century. His name is derived from a series of panel paintings from the church of Saint Lawrence in that city, dated to 1504 and showing the Seven Works of Mercy; they are currently in the Rijksmuseum...
(or Cornelis Buys), Pieter Gerritsz, Jacob Cornelisz, Jan Gossaert, Maarten van Heemskerck, Antonis Mor, Lambert Sustris
Lambert Sustris
Lambert Sustris was a Dutch painter active mainly in Venice during the Mannerist style. He is also referred to as Alberto de Olanda . He was born in Amsterdam, and only came to Venice when over 40 years old. His training is unknown, but he was utilized by the studio of Titian for the depiction of...
, Master of the Good Samaritan, and Martin Schermus van Deventer.